Nothing To Disclose
Yes, today's post does feature Shu Cream. What in the world is Shu Cream? In real life, Shu Cream is a Japanese desert similar to a cream puff. In the nail world, it's a nail polish from Nanacoco. Never heard of either until recently (read: just now)? You're welcome for this installment of fun facts.

Because the color is so sheer, I decided to layer it over OPI My Vampire is Buff before adding the embellishments I bought on eBay.

The diamond ring shaped gold pieces have all of the same qualities of the Hello Kitty pieces I used last week; very malleable and easy to cut.

I intended to glue the pyramid spikes to the back of my cell phone case--hence why they're so large--but after that so-called life proof case broke after falling the short distance from my bed to my carpeted floor, that ended up being a no go.

I've never seen Nanacoco nail polish in any store before so score for my local beauty supply! They also have Essie for $4 and OPI for $5 so what's not to love right? Right!

Will you be adding some Shu Cream to your life? Either lacquer or desert? Chime in.
Tune in. Drop out. Love polish.

Oh! I almost forgot, if you run out and pick up the November 2013 issue of Nailpro Magazine you'll see a familiar face set of nails!

Press Sample
Barielle released two collections for Fall 2013, Nude & Naughty and Sophisticated Lady, and today I decided to skittle the latter of the two collections.

This collection has four cremes and one shimmer. By now you all know my favorite lacquer finish is creme and Barielle does them so so well! So let's get to the review shall we?

Thumb:
London High Tea - A pink polish with subtle good shimmer that is opaque in two coats.

Index:
In Good Taste - Described by Barielle as chocolate brown, In Good Taste is opaque in two coats. FYI it's the repromote in the two collections. See my Nude & Naughty ombre here.

Middle:
Dinner At 8 - In the bottle it looks like a deep red creme but on the nail it translates as a bright red crelly (creme-jelly hybrid) that reaches above photoed opacity in three thin coats.

Ring:
Tres Chic - A dusty navy creme that reaches full opacity in, brace yourselves folks, one coat! Any one coat polish is a winner in my book and Tres Chic is definitely my second favorite in this collection.

Pinky:
Edgy - A deep purple that is opaque in two easy coats. Why do I love this shade? Well first starters it's purple, and finishers(?) it's a creme! What is there not to like? Certainly a favorite over this way!

Nothing To Disclose
A few weeks ago I had a less than stellar day at work. Normally, I handle rough work days by taking myself to Panera Bread, but on this particular occasion I decided to spend a few bucks on something I had on my eBay Watch List. Fast forward my gems arrive and it was finally time to play!

I've done Hello Kitty nail art before so why not give it another go with some gold metallic pieces right? Right?

Before I added the gold pieces to my ring finger I started with a base of LeChat Dare To Wear Flawless White. Next, I sponged a gradient of Barielle Life of the Party and LeChat Dare To Wear Violetta. For my remaining fingers I used my OB12 stamping plate and Sally Hansen Color Quick in Silver Chrome. (I scored a couple of the Color Quick pens for $1 each awhile back. If you can still find them, they're great for stamping.)

Alright quick story about these nails.
I took an unplanned trip to the mall and lo and behold I ended up in Sephora (no shock there I'm sure). The cashier then asked to see my nails and after reaching out my hand to an incredibly obvious point that allowed her to see details would you believe this dumb ass said, and I quote verbatim, "
Is that crackle?" I politely said no, but what I wanted to say was, "Since when does Hello kitty look like crackle polish you idiot?"

I know what you guys are thinking. I'm way too harsh but if you were there you'd know that by far this is the ditsiest cashier I've ever had the displeasure of being cashed out by. I have a long history of run-ins with just plain stupid Sephora employees by the way. Just moments earlier she advised me the the Formula X glitters I bought were meant as toppers (no shit Sherlock as if I can't read the huge nail bar display or bottle for myself) and that I should buy some of the flat colors also--no harm in suggestive selling, I used to work retail so I understand. She then goes on to say, "Um, you wanna buy these too then?" as she holds up some random piece of product placed at the counter for the impulse buyer in all of us.

Worst. sales. pitch. ever. Does Sephora only hire the brainless as sales reps/beauty consultants? Pretty sure I'll be shopping at Sephora.com from now on.

Nothing To Disclose
Okay folks, time to admit that I'm pretty much one of the last people to actively try new tends in nail lacquer. Don't believe me? I just bought my first magnetic polish two months ago.

But now I'm getting beside the point. The actual point of today's post is that these are my first Zoya Pixie Dust shades! As some of you may know, Zoya usually (and by usually I mean all the time) has really good sales on they're site. But I get the majority of my Zoyas on clearance for $2.99 at Lengths! Yes, this does include the two Pixie Dust shades I'm featuring today!

Zoya London | China Glaze Glistening Snow | Zoya Dahlia

I started off with a base color of China Glaze Glistening Snow. I then applied a layer of quick dry top coat and once that dried I placed some striping tape to some somewhat of a argyle pattern.

Now for the main attraction!

After my tape placement I made a gradient using just the brushes of Zoya London (grey) and Zoya Dahlia (black).

Zoya says the Pixie Dust shade are long wearing and chip resistant without the use of top coat. And I've got to agree! I was highly skeptical of this claim but even after a single day of wear it still looked like I just finished these nails! Which, for me, is highly unlikely without a top coat.

Out of the few brands of texture polish I own, the Zoya Pixie Dusts are my favorite for sure. Not too rough, but certainly not too smooth.
Ahh. Love.

When I found out what this months kit was going to contain I immediately got exited because not only are there four kinds of studs, three of them are neon! Y'all know my favorite nail color is neon. (Okay so color group if you want to get technical, but you get the point right?) Um hi, right up my alley!! After receiving the items and doing some brainstorming, I came up with two looks.

For the first look I used the 3mm gold studs, Jessica Black Matte (both included in this kit), and Jessica Black Lustre.

Originally I wanted to do quilted nails since I had a matte black and a glossy black nail polish. As you can see I decided to go with something slightly different.

For my second look I went in a completely different direction and not only did I use the orange, pink, and purple neon studs that come with this kit, I used some lacquers I have in my stash.

I started with a base of the now discontinued Sephora by OPI Why Yellow There... and after I let that dry I used this tutorial by Chalkboard Nails for stars and hearts.

What did I use for the stars and hearts anyway? China Glaze Papaya Punch, China Glaze Rose Among Thorns, and China Glaze Flying Dragon. And because you can never have too much neon I added the pink, orange, and purple studs to complete the look!

Don't forget that if you want this kit you need to sign for Nail Art Society up by October 15th to get this delivered to your door for $11.95 plus shipping. Oh and get 10% your first kit by using promo code OCT10 at checkout!

Nothing To Disclose
A little while back I tried my first mash-up mani and figured why not try another one. I originally wanted to recreate these Homer Simpson nails by Holly984 on Instagram. Somewhere along the line the idea of doughnuts and dollar bills seemed fitting. Strange combination, I know.
After a few weeks of sitting on this idea I finally scoured the interwebz for water decals with US currency. Fun fact, I only found two different sets so I bought them both. Ready for the big reveal? Of course you are!

The doughnuts on my middle and ring finger came out a lot different than I intended but after wearing them all day they started to look intentionally stylized. Thus, I kept them.

At this point you may or may not be interested in some product porn, but I'm giving it to you anyway!